The Price of Beauty
by sakuraheartz
Summary: Usually, she wouldn't take crap from anyone. But Natsume Hyuuga wasn't just anyone. Seven years had passed, and to her dismay, she was still the ugly girl who wears polka dots underwear. Nothing more. Nothing less.


**The Price of Beauty**

Disclaimer: Me no own Gakuen Alice.

Warning: **Unedited.**

This is my thanks to all of you beautiful people who always stood by my side.  
>Thanks for the endless PMs, encouragements, reviews, etc.<p>

You guys have no idea how happy I am for your never-ending support :')

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><p>Mikan Sakura splashed the cold water on her face and took a deep breath. The sound of the running water somehow soothed the uneasiness she feels. Sighing, she turns the tap off and looked at her own reflection on the mirror in front of her. Mikan felt the tight feeling in her chest as she saw how pale and unruly she looked.<p>

'Ugly.'

She flinched at the word.

One word was enough to make her crumble. Usually, she wouldn't take crap from anyone. But Natsume Hyuuga wasn't just anyone. He was the person that she had loved since she was ten. Foolish, she knows. Seven years had passed, and to her dismay, she was still the ugly girl who wears polka dots underwear. Nothing more, nothing less.

'Ugly.'

To Mikan's horror, she felt her lip quiver as her eyes filled with weak tears. "Damn you Natsume!" she cursed under her breath then she caught her wobbling lip between her teeth and sniffed. She tried to pretend that his words doesn't affect her but fail miserably.

Mikan knew that she was no beauty. She had tried all the tricks and tips available in the magazines and also from the internet in hope that he would (at the very least) look at her and say that she was beautiful. However it seems that the more she tries to be beautiful, the more he teases her.

His words had affected her so much to the point where she had starved herself just so that she could shed off the extra baby-fat off her body. But the results were the opposite of what she had hoped. Now, whenever she tried to eat something, she would spend the next fifteen minutes throwing up on the toilet bowl.

"Stupid Mikan," she scoffed, angry at herself for letting his words to have a huge impact on her. Who was she kidding? He didn't even like her. It was just a one-sided feeling on her side.

"Stupid, stupid, Mikan." She took a clean towel from a near cabinet and dap her face dry. She let out a tired sigh as she stepped out of the room.

Mikan, who was busy judging herself, didn't even realise the boy sitting on the sofa in her living room. It was until she smell the faint smell of (what she seemed to believe) Chinese food that she finally noticed him.

"Na-Natsume?" She was confused and slightly uncomfortable by his presence in her apartment. She must have been deep in her thoughts awhile ago that she didn't hear someone had entered her home. Suddenly, the whole room feels so small that it's making her hard to breathe. "How did you get in?"

Slowly, he rose from the sofa and dangled a key on his right fingers. "Imai gave me your key," he said briefly.

A silent anger had rose within her directed at her best friend. She had warned Hotaru that she didn't want anyone to know about her current condition.

Especially Natsume Hyuuga.

Definitely not Natsume Hyuuga.

Mikan crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him. "Did she ask you to babysit me? Well you know what? I don't need it."

He sighed tiredly. Even through her irritation, she could see how beautiful the man is. One look at him was enough to weaken her knees and feel the butterflies on her stomach. She loathes that part of her. "Can't you at least pretend that I, as your classmate, is worried about his friend's health and hope that she'll come back to attend the class after a week of absence?"

Mikan closed her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. Natsume Hyuuga is worried? What a joke. He wouldn't even want to do anything with her. A sudden memory of Koizumi flirting at him brought a stabbing pain on her fragile heart. Yes, someone like Natsume Hyuuga is better off with someone like Luna Koizumi. They would make a beautiful pair together.

Koizumi was someone who the boys described as an "angel" and a "total hottie". Mikan couldn't blame all the guys drooling at her because Luna Koizumi was a real beauty. In addition, she was a cheerleader, a cosmetic model for the popular magazine Alicia, and an honor student. For that reason, she's practically at the top of the social ladder in the academy.

She was everything a girl dream to be.

She was everything Mikan wish to be.

Mikan refused to believe when her friends had told her that Luna's attempt of seducing Natsume was a failure from the beginning. Mikan scoffed when her friends told her that Natsume actually "fancy" her. Her! She played with that thought for a while; relishing and daydreaming about it. She thought about becoming more beautiful so that she would look good beside him. Well look at what had happened to her when she had hoped too much for her feelings to be returned.

"Just leave me alone Natsume," Mikan said tiredly as she opened the door, silently telling him to go.

Instead, he sat back on the couch and challenged her gaze. His eyes tell her that he's not going anywhere. Sighing, Mikan rolled her eyes and closed the door. Natsume Hyuuga can be as stubborn as a mule whenever he puts his mind on something.

"Sit," he said and she obeyed his order; too lazy to argue with him. Then Mikan watched him unwrapped the plastic and grabbed a Styrofoam cup that had noodles in it. 'Pork Lo Mein' to be exact. He's insufferable. He knows that it was one of her favorite food and he was just torturing her. Mikan ignored the rumbling on her stomach and tries not to drool at the sight of food.

It surprises her when Natsume held a piece of meat in front of her using the wooden chopsticks provided with the takeaway food. She looked at him, bewildered by his action.

"Eat," he said firmly. "God knows you'd need it."

She stared at him for a moment and then at the meat in front of her. "Come on," he urged her. "A bite won't hurt you."

Mikan was tempted to tell him what she had endured for the past few days but she decided against it. Taking a deep breath, she ate the meat and chews it thoroughly before she swallowed it. She waited for a moment. Waiting for the moment where her stomach rejects the food and sends her throwing up on the toilet bowl.

But, nothing happened.

She didn't even realised the tears streaming from her eyes. She didn't know whether it was the food or the fact that he was there beside her when she needs him the most. She opted for the first one.

Mikan was shocked when she felt his hand caress the side of her face as his fingers tries to wipe out all the tears away. "There," he said in a low tone, "Beautiful."

She was stunned for a moment and managed to regain composure as he lifted his hand from her cheek. Then he starts to unwrapped another noodle cup for himself. He must have sensed that she was staring at him which caused him to look at her. He raised his eyebrow.

"What?"

Blushing for getting caught, Mikan gasped and look away. "Nothing!"

Natsume smirked and then he took a mouthful of noodles into his mouth. "This is my portion polka dots," he paused to swallow the food. "Don't be a pig and stop peeking at my food."

Mikan puffed her cheeks. "I'm not a pig, you pervert!" She grumbles as she grudgingly pokes her food using the chopsticks. She watched him at the corner of her eyes and she let a smile grace her face.

On that very moment, Mikan promised herself that she will stop torturing herself. She never did like the 'new and improved' Mikan. Her juvenile decision only makes her unhappy and, in her opinion, pathetic. She has decided that she will get back to being the clumsy and 'ugly' Mikan.

And when she's recovered, she will muster all of her courage and confess to him. True, she wouldn't lie that it'll break her heart if Natsume rejected her. But the fact that he's here – in her house – that had meant something right?

'This moment is enough…for now.'

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><p>THE END.<p>

A.N: I had wrote this story on an impulse so sorry for the crappy ending :p And no. I won't continue this story.


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